Politics & Government

Early Voting Comes to College Park (And All of Maryland)

Residents have the option of voting on not just one, but seven days

Residents of College Park – and, indeed, all of Maryland – are no longer limited to a single day to cast their votes for this year's primary elections.

In addition to the primary election on September 14, residents may now partake of the newly implemented early voting option, available Sept. 3 to Sept. 9, from 10 a.m. until 8 p.m. every day except Sunday, Sept. 5. The College Park Community Center is one of five early voting sites in Prince George's County. 

The option to vote early is important for people who may not be able to carve out the time to vote on one particular day, said Mayor Andrew Fellows.

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"In a democratic society, it needs to be as easy as possible for people to vote," he said. "Having it over a span of days is the best way to do that."

The Community Center will also be the site of an early voting rally to be held on Saturday at 11:30 a.m. Congressman Steny Hoyer will be speaking, and various Dist. 21 delegates and College Park elected officials are expected to attend.

Find out what's happening in College Parkwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

"We're just trying to bring attention to early voting, and make people aware that it's happening," Fellows said.  "We want them to be excited to get out and participate."

One of the primary criticisms of early voting – and one that College Park officials hope the rally will help eliminate – is that there is no evidence that the availability of early voting increases voter turnout, said Ross Goldstein, the Deputy Administrator at the Maryland State Board of Elections.

Goldstein said that increasing the number of voting days naturally increases overall cost of the election, given the additional resources required. He added that no specific figures are available for Prince George's County at this time.

"It adds to the cost of putting on the election, but you know, elections cost money," he said.

Though early voting has been available in a handful of other states for some time, this is the first year that it will be implemented in Maryland.  Early voting was initially set to go into effect for the 2006 gubernatorial race, until the court of appeals ruled it in violation of Maryland's constitution. The issue was resolved when voters approved an amendment to the constitution in 2008.

Whether it will do anything for voter turnout remains to be seen. Mayor Fellows, for one, certainly hopes it does.

"It's never been done here before, which is one of the exciting things about it," he said. "We really encourage people to take advantage of it."

 


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